Towards the end of last year we ran a charity competition to find a charity we could support next year, and giveaway £500 of personalised clothing to. We had a tremendous response, with 12 incredibly worthy causes taking the time to enter. 4833 votes later we have a winner, and that winner is Southport and Formby Special Athletes.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the charities who entered and everybody who voted. Thank you!

A bit about Southport and Formby Special Athletes…

Area of Work:

Providing sports opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

What are the aims of the organisation?
To provide opportunities for improving self confidence and social skills by interacting with others in a sports environment.

From their website:

“Our activities can contribute to the physical and social development of people with learning disabilities. Through successful experience in sport, the athletes gain confidence and build a positive image.

All our athletes, regardless of their ability level are encouraged to enter competitive events, either locally or nationally. Such events are expensive and are financed through donations and fund-raising events.”

How will we support them?

The competition prize is £500 of worth of personalised clothing, which Southport & Formby Special Athletes plan to use for sports uniform & tracksuits for their athletes and coaches.

We will also be keeping you up to date with their activities, special events and news right here on the blog, giving them some additional exposure for the fantastic work they do.

Find out more:

Visit the Southport & Formby Special Atheltes website

Here are the full results of the voting, once more thank you to everyone who took part:

Our courier has today informed us that it is unable to guarantee delivery of goods before Christmas to Scotland and Newcastle. Due to the severe weather conditions that have occurred in recent weeks, Interlink Express have been unable to deliver goods, leading to the accumulation of a large backlog of goods in their Scottish and Newcastle depots. This has led them to release the statement that they are unable to guarantee delivery for Christmas in these areas.

This will have an impact on express orders placed to these areas, as although we will be able to dispatch your order within the 24 hours or 4 days you pay for, the courier may not be able to meet it’s usual next day delivery guarantee. Our advice is regretably that if you live in these areas don’t place an express order before Chirstmas as it is unlikely to reach you in time. Express orders to the rest of the country should remain unaffected, but if you are concerned please check our couriers latest updates here.

We apologise for any delays experienced and can only assure you that Interlink are making every  effort to ensure parcels are delivered as soon as possible. If you are in the affected area and have any queries, please contact our customer services via info@clothes2order.com

The full Interlink Express statement can be read via: http://www.interlinkexpress.com/products-services/uk/uk_update-suspended_services_2.htm

Following on from last week’s post, we decided to find more hilarious knitted items to give you some inspiration on how to keep warm this winter. If a simple hoody or plain jumper is not your style, why not choose something from our top 5 Woolly Wonders!

1) Keeping warm, while looking good enough to eat can be a bit of a pickle. This knitter however has found the answer: A mouth-watering burger dress that is bound to get heads turning. Not one for vegetarians out there!

2) Do you want to be the Princess Leia to everyone else’s Jabba the Hutt? This hat is perfect for every Star Wars fan as it not only gives you her gorgeous locks, but keeps your melon nice and warm.

3) You might as well pretend that you are back in World War One with this freezing fog about and what better way to do it than with the knitted gas mask! This crazy creation is as scary as it is ingenious. When people see you walking through the mist with this on, they will wonder if they are back in the blitz.

4) If like me you have a bald father who likes to get his groove on, this knitted Elvis toupee could be the perfect Christmas present! Practical, sexy and cool, uh huh huh!

5) Definitely the cutest knitted outfit on this list. There can’t be many things in this world cuter than a baby in a suave knitted baby-grow.

We didn’t expect to be facing this much snow quite this early in the year, but here we are on December 1st and our courier is having to report on delivery difficulties due to extreme weather.

For the most part the lovely guys at interlink are pressing ahead, but if your area is badly affected by the snow you can check on their website to see if there are any issues. This page is updated every few hours:

http://www.interlinkexpress.com/products-services/uk/uk_update.htm

There are so many charities out there that need a helping hand raising awareness for the work they do and could greatly benefit from £500 worth of personalised clothing. Our problem is that we cannot reach all of them to tell them about the opportunity of us sponsoring them through 2011. This is where we need your help! Do you know a charity that you feel should be nominated for the chance to win? Do you just want to raise awareness for some of the charities that have already entered? Well, here are a few ideas of how to spread the word.

1) Facebook: www.facebook.com/clothes2order

On our facebook page you can keep up-to-date with everything from discounts to funny blog articles. It is also here that we will post any news concerning the competition from new charities that have entered the competition to how you can vote on the nominees after the deadline for applications has past.

By directing people to our facebook page, they can find out more about the competition, it’s entrants and later how they can get involved with the voting. By simply joining you also get a discount code giving you £5 off your next order when you spend over £50.

2) Twitter: www.twitter.com/clothes2order

Clothes2Order are on twitter and will be letting you know of any changes to the competition via regular tweets. If you are on twitter, why not tweet your favourite charity to tell them to enter or when the voting begins, tell your  friends to support your favourite charity?

3) E-mail

If you know a charity that would be perfect for the competition, why not e-mail them the details directly? All the details are on the charity competition homepage and you can even download an entry form. To find out more and view all the charities that have already entered visit: www.clothes2order.com/charity_competition.php

If you have any questions or queries about the competition, feel free to get in touch with Simon via e-mail (simon@clothes2order.com) and he will be able to help.

Last year it was Rage Against the Machine, but this year it looks like X Factor sceptics are looking to make a mockery of Simon Cowell’s show from the inside. Everyone’s favourite Brazilian contestant is slowly making his way to the X Factor final by butchering every song he touches and making people laugh along the way. 

If you want Wagner to win and to get his chance at the Christmas Number 1, why not join the campaign and spread the word with these T Shirts?! Would there be a better way to prove the X Factor is not about talent than for Wagner to win it? 

So Wayne Rooney doesn’t want to play for Manchester United anymore. Now what?! His recent statement has thrown everyone into frenzied speculation as to what the future has in store for the England international. However no one can be more interested than fans of the clubs that can afford Wayne’s sizable pay packet!

Whether your a United fan feeling betrayed or a Chelsea fan wanting a new striker, your club’s manager is definitely going to be thinking about what to do with Rooney. Why not let them know what you think of England’s best striker?!  Check out these T-shirts which do just that, buy one today or make your own design:

After watching the ITV show on Sunday night, I was left asking myself…what is the X Factor? In my mind the X Factor is someone who has star quality and an amazing voice, but not according to Cheryl Cole! To get into Cheryl’s final three, it seems you need to sing badly, cry and smudge your eye make-up all over your face.

Unfortunately for Gamu Nhengu, she did none of these things, she just sang well throughout the whole competition. After her first audition most of the bookies had her tipped as a favourite for the ‘supposed’ talent competition, but last night her dreams ended.

My bewilderment has been echoed in the public, press and also by Simon Cowell’s judging side-kick Sinitta who Tweeted “Aaaaarrrrggh. Cheryl Noooo!!”. We can’t all be wrong, can we? Well, There are rumours that the big twist on Saturday night’s show will be wildcard entries as life lines for contestants who were over-looked. So I’m saying we get behind Gamu and give her the best chance of being selected. To help i’ve created these T-shirts to spread the word and support the campaign.

Having recently attended a conference in London, I was amazed by the variety of approaches companies had towards promotional clothing. I thought it would be a good idea to give some simple tips on how your company can get the most from using promotional T shirts.

1) Logo: This is probably the most important part of your T-shirt as it is what a customer will directly associate with your company. For this reason a logo has to be eye-catching and make an impact such that the consumers attention is drawn to it and intrigued by it. In order for this to happen it has to be attractive and aesthetically pleasing while helping to convey a positive message about your company.

2) Colour: I would never claim to be a fashionista but there are some basics that need to be stated. Colours carry with them a subliminal message that will have an impact on how your company is viewed. For example, if you are a cleaning company, a clean white T-shirt will show how professional your company is, likewise environmental agencies may opt for green to emphasise their eco-friendly policies. It is important to think about what colour will convey a positive message about the work your company does.

Remember, while colours are important, logos should remain the focus of your promotional T-shirt! So make sure your logo stands out on the background you have selected and is clearly visible. Don’t invest time creating a fantastic logo for it to end up being drowned by a garish colour.

3) Information: There is always a balance to strike when deciding how much information a company should place on a promotional T-shirt. While the aim of the T-shirt is clearly to generate interest in your company, you can run the risk of swapping customers with too much information, such that they become confused and disinterested. I would suggest that less is more and that you stick to a ‘logo and link’ combination. By having a strong logo and a large printed link to an approriate webpage, the customer should have more than enough to progress with their interest in your company.

4) Purpose: I would suggest adjusting promotional T-shirts for the purpose of their use. At large exhibition events it maybe more important to focus on standing out from your competitors so that people come to your stand to find out more. In comparison however if you are planning a T-shirt give-away, it is important to focus on making the T-shirts wearable and fashionable so that people will actually wear them and give your company free promotion while they walk the street.  By adjusting your T-shirt design according to the event, you are likely to get much more out of your promotional clothing.

Last week saw Dionne Warwick attending the official launch of World Hunger Day – Empowering People. Ending Hunger. Now that the date for World Hunger Day has been set as the 9th January, 2011, the countdown for The Hunger Project to reach their target of £1 million begins.

We have partnered with the Hunger Project to help them reach their goal by building them an online store where their supporters can buy T-shirts to raise awareness and funds for programmes in the developing world, empowering women and men to end their own hunger and poverty. See The Hunger Project store here.

World Hunger Day – 9th January 2011

The Hunger Project has created this day to provide an annual focus of awareness and fundraising to stimulate support for the many millions of people in Africa, South Asia and Latin America whose courage, determination and positive actions are bringing about a sustainable end to their own hunger and poverty.

Following a day-time conference and panel discussions, Dionne Warwick will headline an evening concert of famous performers from both sides of the Atlantic at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre to raise awareness and funds for The Hunger Project’s programmes. It is hoped that tickets from the concert (on sale now – book here) will support The Hunger Project’s aim of raising £1million for its projects around the world.

How can I help spread the word?

It’s as easy as putting on a T-shirt. If you are looking for an easy way to get involved and help spread the word about The Hunger Project’s work, then why not buy an official World Hunger Day T-shirt. In partnership with The Hunger Project, Clothes2order.com has established a merchandise store where you can order these T-shirts from the comfort of your own home. When you purchase a T-shirt, 25% of net sales will go straight to The Hunger Project to help fund the great programmes that they run. Your T-shirt will also help to inform people about World Hunger Day – Empowering People. Ending Hunger. and contribute to The Hunger Project’s fundraising target of £1million. Clothes2order is proud and privileged to be associated with such a fantastic cause.

More information on The Hunger Project can be found via:

www.thehungerproject.co.uk / www.worldhungerday.org.uk / www.thp.org